Tween Beat

Feeling lost in preteen USA? Here's a handy road map to get you tuned in to the latest and greatest according to today's tweens.

HOT TV SHOWS:

• Charmed

• Dawson's Creek

• Rugrats

• 7th Heaven

Ones to watch for this season: New fall TV offerings from the creators of Dawson's Creek (Wasteland), Party of Five (Time Of Your Life), and 7th Heaven (Safe Harbor)

HOT READS:

• American Girl

• Delia's mail-order catalog

• Girls' Life

• Teen

• Teen People

HOT BRANDS:

• Abercrombie & Fitch

• Billabong

• Bonnie Bell

• Limited Too

• Pottery Barn Kids

• Rampage Girls

• Skechers

• Steve Madden

• Union Bay

• Vans

HOT ACTIVITIES:

• Chatting with friends via e-mail

• Shopping

• Studying (Yep, it's cool to be smart.)

HOT MARKETING APPROACH:

Acknowledging the intelligence of today's tweens, à la Arizona Jeans' recent TV advertising campaign featuring a group of media-savvy kids mocking the lengths to which companies go to appear hip. So nix any attempt to adopt the latest lingo or over-zealous effort to reach tweens at their level. As the youngsters advise: "Just show us the jeans."

Contact Sources

Ch!ckaboom, (416) 782-6162

Girls' Life,http://www.girlslife.com

Youth Market System, (818) 783-5551, dacuffq@aol.com

This article was originally published in the September 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Tween Beat.